Automatic coupling for railway and like vehicles.



N0- 804,813. PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905. W. R. JENKINSON.

AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND LIKE VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1904.

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PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.

W. R. JENKINSON. AUTOMATIC GOUPLING'FOR RAILWAY AND LIKE VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 1904.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WlLLIAM ROBERT JENKINSON, or BOSTON, ENGLAND.

AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND LIKE VEHICLES- Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1905.

Application filed April 25, 1904. Serial N9. 204,892.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM ROBERT JEN- KINSON, a subject of the King ofthe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at 80 Sleafordroad, Boston, in the county of Lincoln, England, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Automatic Couplings forlRailway and LikeVehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic couplings forrailway and like vehicles, and in carrying it into effect I proceed inor in about the following manner, making reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Figure l is a plan of the arrangement provided at eachend of the vehicle. Figs. 2 and 3 are back and front views,respectively, of Fig. 4 is an end elevation of Fig. 1, showing certainlevers, to be hereinafter referred to. Fig. 5 is a side'view of acatch,to be hereinafter referred to. Fig. 6 is a side view of a T-head, to behereinafter mentioned.

To each buffer-beam a of each vehicle is attached somewhat to the leftof the center a spring-buffer 5, outstanding from a plate 0, bolted tothe buffer-beam a.

Free to revolve in grooves in the casing of the buffer 6 are two ringscl, to which are attached or with which are integrally formed thediametrically opposite arms 6, the outer ends of which are connected bythe bars f and g, the bar g being so much heavier than f as to cause itif left free to hang vertically below the bar f. The extent to which 9can fall, however, is limited by providing in the plate 0 curvedopenings or recesses it and prolonging the adjacent ends of the bars fand 9, so as to enter these recesses. The length of the recesses 72, issuch that the heavy bar 9 cannot be raised more than forty-five de greesabove the horizontal nor fall more than forty-five degrees below thehorizontal. The opposite ends of f and g are prolonged to extend beyondthe head of the buffer 6 and are attached to a disk 2', in the back ofwhich are two recesses j and 7c.

Projecting from the head of the buffer 6 is a stud Z, and when the heavybar 9 is in its highest position Z enters the upper recess y, and when 9is in its lowest position Z enters It. The recesses j and 7c areconnected by an inclined plane extending from the bottom of the recessis and running out in the recess 3'. The recesses j and Ir arepreferably to the right, as seen from the front. In the disk 6 is abevel-edged slot m, which when the bar g is in its highest position isvertical, and when 9 is in its lowest position on is horizontalin otherwords, at right angles to its former position.

Somewhat to the rightof the buffer 1) is attached a casing 0%, having aspring-controlled draw-bar 0, carried back to the spring attachment p,usual on railway rolling-stock, and provided at its outer end with aflat part q, forming, with the draw-bar 0, a T-shaped head. The part qis of a size to slide easily into the slot m of the disk 2' of thebuffer arrangement on the beam of the other of the two vehicles to becoupled together.

The action is as follows, assuming that the bar 9 on one of the vehiclesto be in its highest position: When the opposing vehicles are run towardone another, the T-shaped end of the draw-bar 0 of the one vehicleenters the slot 12?. of the bufier on the other vehicle, and the impactof this T-shaped end with the head of the buffer 6 withdraws the stud Zfrom the upper recess and allows the heavier bar 9 to fall, which bringsthe slot m across the T- shaped head and prevents the T-shaped headbeing withdrawn.

To uncouple the vehicles, I provide a lever 1", pivoted at s to thebuffer-beam a, the free end of the lever carrying the roller 2, which isimmediately below the bar 9 when in its lowermost position, a stop Mkeeping the roller from falling too low. To the lever? is pivoted oneend of a rod o, the other end of which is pivoted to one end of a leverw, pivoted at w to the buffer-beam a or to carriage or truck at asuitable height, and the pin at y, which connects w and y, slides in aslot z of a lever A, pivoted to the carriage or truck. By depressing thefree end of either of the levers w or A the rod 7 is lifted, and with itthe lever r, the roller t, which in lifting the bar g, will bring theslot m vertical, and allow the T-shaped end of 0 to pass out through m,thus enabling the vehicles to separate.

To reduce the force of concussion, rubber or other resilient washers maybe provided at B for the piston C of the draw-bar 0 to strike against.

As an additional security I provide behind the head of the buffer Z) ahook D, the shank of which runs through a loop E, attached to thebuffer-casing, and continues across the top of the arms carrying theheavy bar 9. The beak F of this hook D has a notch G on its inner edge,in which notch the edge of the outer of the arms 0, carrying the bar 9,is retained until the buffer-head has been push ed in sufliciently bycontact with the T-headed draw-bar. A stop H is provided to prevent thehook D being pushed up too far when the bar 9 is raised for uncouplingthe vehicles.

I prefer to have the hook D on the left side of the head of b.

The rod of the buffer 6 and the draw-bar 0 are made of squarecross-section to prevent them turning round.

The outer ends of the levers w and A may move under the plates I, havingstops J at each end, and they may be held in any required position by apin or other means.

The ends of the bars f and g may be bifurcated where attached to thedisk 6, so as to strengthen the connection.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An automatic coupling for railway and like vehicles and consisting oftwo main portions,

namely, on the buffer-beam of one of the vehicles a buffer having aT-headed draw-bar (preferably springcontrolled) and On the buiTer-beamof the other of the vehicles, a spring-buffer the head of which has aneccentrically-placed stud which is inserted in one or other of tworecesses in the back of a disk which is free to make a part revolutionby the fall of the heavier of two bars freeto move round the casing ofthe said buffer, the said disk having a slot through Which in the act ofcoupling the head of the above-mentioned T-headed draw-bar passes and oncontacting with the head of the spring-loufler disengages the stud fromthe disk which by the falling of the heavier bar makes a part revolutionso as to bring the slot in the disk at right angles to the head of theT-headed drawbar and thus couple the vehicles, means being provided tolimit the movement of the heavier of the two bars and also to lock it inits upper position and an arrangement of levers operable from each sideof the vehicle for raising the heavier bar and bringing the slot in thedisk into position for the head of the T-headed draw-bar to pass out andto allow the vehicles to uncouple, substantially as hereinbeforedescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this'speeification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM ROBERT JENKINSON.

WVitnesses:

JOSEPH GoBY, HARRY STUART BUDGE.

